Former Diablo III game director Jay Wilson admitted the real-money and gold auction houses "really hurt the game," as Blizzard underestimated the number of players who would turn to auctions to outfit their characters. Joystiq has details from a GDC talk where Wilson said they thought the auction houses were a service players of their action/RPG sequel wanted, and that hosting them in-house would reduce fraud and abuse, but as in the end, they created an environment where collecting money was a primary goal over defeating Diablo and his hordes. He also says they would turn off auctions if they could, but they have "no idea" how many players this would disappoint. His contention that Blizzard thought only a small number of players would use the auction houses is hard to fathom in light of the game's design, which, for a considerable time before a series of balance changes required the very best gear to complete on the highest levels, even though such gear dropped so rarely it was impractical to try to collect it without using the auctions. Blizzard has a GDC talk scheduled for today discussing their iterative design process for Diablo III, and their preview of that mentions a number of systems that were reworked during the game's design because they were unsatisfactory, but all the examples they use are gameplay mechanics, and not things like auctions.

It's like, your doing some co op and see another player of the same class do some cool shiz and your like, woa! What's your skill runes you have selected for each spell? He speaks, you set yours to the same, now, poof! You are just as cool as he is. Awesome!

I cannot fathom the fact that they believe players want simplicity over complexity when it comes to Diablo which namely Diablo 2 made it's entrance through all the customization and permanence of character development. Having multiple characters of the same class made for awesome build styles and planned paper work on character design beforehand. (not that I ever did that, lol).

Here, with the way that you can respec at will, anybody and everybody can have the exact same character build at any given time and where the hell is the fun in that? It's a bunch of cookie cutter toons running around. Blizz putting simplicity into this meant try to get as much money from all age groups and keep it simple enough that even the total unexperienced gamer can get in on the cash flow.

The theory that it was basically designed for consoles and the PC version was a giant beta test becomes more and more believable, doesn't it?

Xero wrote on Mar 29, 2013, 10:04: Here, with the way that you can respec at will, anybody and everybody can have the exact same character build at any given time and where the hell is the fun in that? It's a bunch of cookie cutter toons running around. Blizz putting simplicity into this meant try to get as much money from all age groups and keep it simple enough that even the total unexperienced gamer can get in on the cash flow.

Exactly. I can't build my own unique Demon Hunter, the permutations are limited by the games stringent customization options. Why would I ever make another one? Item runes would have a way to avoid this and they were in the game at one point but they dashed it in favor of adopting the current system. They put too much weight on simple weapon DPS and core stats, the lack of alternative customization paths is really limiting.

I do wonder how much of the games development suffered for its intended console release later on. I find it a bit odd so many design choices mesh well with consoles, right down to the skill loadout matching button availability on gamepads. I don't think it's a big conspiracy or something silly, just something that was in the back of their minds about what kind of game they were making and for what audience.

Verno wrote on Mar 29, 2013, 09:51:Agreed Xero, some permanence of choice lends both investment and validity to the experience. I think Path of Exile struck a nice middle ground there, letting you respec some missteps but if you totally fuck up then you redo your character. The idea that players just want convenience over everything else and can't handle responsibility is silly. The lack of any ladder competition was a very stupid choice too, it was extremely popular in Diablo 2.

They missed the boat on so many things, stripped the experience down to its barest elements and then cashed in on the name. The Blizzard polish and visual pizazz is there but it's an empty shell.

Yeah the art direction is pretty solid, but with the lack of a solid foundation makes this tower collapse under it's weak joints.

I cannot fathom the fact that they believe players want simplicity over complexity when it comes to Diablo which namely Diablo 2 made it's entrance through all the customization and permanence of character development. Having multiple characters of the same class made for awesome build styles and planned paper work on character design beforehand. (not that I ever did that, lol).

Here, with the way that you can respec at will, anybody and everybody can have the exact same character build at any given time and where the hell is the fun in that? It's a bunch of cookie cutter toons running around. Blizz putting simplicity into this meant try to get as much money from all age groups and keep it simple enough that even the total unexperienced gamer can get in on the cash flow.

When you're close to a project, especially at a company that's never been wrong, it's pretty easy to get deluded into thinking your ridiculous idea makes perfect sense and is what everyone wants.

People genuinely try to do something right and beneficial for everyone, it's just that they're so close to the project and the ideas that they can't see clearly.

Of course, there are usually people elsewhere in the company that can, but no one is listening to them. Kind of why, when I take a new project, I tend to go to the lowest level people first and work my way up to the highest. The people not involved in defining the vision are the ones that can see it clearly. The ones that are are the ones distracted by, well, I guess the shit they're selling.

Agreed Xero, some permanence of choice lends both investment and validity to the experience. I think Path of Exile struck a nice middle ground there, letting you respec some missteps but if you totally fuck up then you redo your character. The idea that players just want convenience over everything else and can't handle responsibility is silly. The lack of any ladder competition was a very stupid choice too, it was extremely popular in Diablo 2.

They missed the boat on so many things, stripped the experience down to its barest elements and then cashed in on the name. The Blizzard polish and visual pizazz is there but it's an empty shell.

ASeven wrote on Mar 29, 2013, 09:27:Translation: "The RMAH isn't bringing as much money as we hoped so we better try and do some spin and talk smack about it in hopes more suckers buy D3."

Or translation, let's talk smack about the RHMAH now in hopes that we can salvage some of the expansion buyers knowing that we don't need to worry about the RMAH ruining that as well.

I honestly think Blizzard will do whatever it takes to clear it's name and try to say, No, don't worry, we promise, the expansion will not have any of this or that in it and it will make up for everything D3 was not. Unfortunately there is too much wrong that even an expansion cannot fix. Namely the fact that there is ZERO character building.

The way they designed the game is no different than a game like Battlefield 3 weapon customization. Simply setup your gun/character the way you see fit for a situation. Switch things around until your comfortable and walah! You've just experienced the character customization... WEAK!

His contention that Blizzard thought only a small number of players would use the auction houses is hard to fathom in light of the game's design, which, for a considerable time before a series of balance changes required the very best gear to complete on the highest levels, even though such gear dropped so rarely it was impractical to try to collect it without using the auctions.

Blizzard seems to still fail at understanding this. It was/is easier to farm gold and buy what you needed than farm gear.

Dev wrote on Mar 29, 2013, 09:08:You could turn off the RMAH and leave normal gold AH alone. Then prices would eventually stabilize, especially if you took even a tiny bit of action against chinese gold farming bots. You know the ones that post every 10 seconds in general? The ones you do nothing about?

Also if you make good loot super rare, WTF else do you think people will get the loot?

The gold AH has the unfortunate side effect of showcasing perfect item rolls, ensuring many players only seek top percentile loot for their class. Blizzard admitted as much previously and Jay Wilson is just reinforcing that.

Something like per lobby player bazaars with integrated chat would have a better idea IMHO, after b.net I'm surprised they didn't just go that route since they had the infrastructure setup for it already. I don't really buy Wilsons lamentations though, when people tried to farm they actively worked against them and so people turned to other sources, it's no real surprise to anyone. God forbid they show some sack and actually just turn off the AH.

Anyways it's all said and done now, Path of Exile and Torchlight 2 proved that small outfits can provide comparable experiences with new ideas and refinements. There is no real reason to play Diablo 3 anymore with better alternatives.

InBlack wrote on Mar 29, 2013, 08:47:Lies, sprinkled with a hint of truth? Or truth liberally smeared over with lies??

Honestly, the AH is the least of Diablo3's problems. The utterly horrible decision to limit character customization to ITEMS only as well as the doubly fucked up decision to build the game from scratch and not on top of systems which have been balanced and perfected for the past ten years is the main reason why this game will be rememberd as mediocre by fans of the originals.

I wont even touch the B-movie 'storyboard' production, or the attrocious level design.

You could turn off the RMAH and leave normal gold AH alone. Then prices would eventually stabilize, especially if you took even a tiny bit of action against chinese gold farming bots. You know the ones that post every 10 seconds in general? The ones you do nothing about?

Also if you make good loot super rare, WTF else do you think people will get the loot?